


Laughter Lines

by shadowstrangle



Category: Naruto
Genre: Comedy, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, ooey gooey, so fluffy it's disgusting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27396040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowstrangle/pseuds/shadowstrangle
Summary: "For the longest time, Lee assumed Gaara’s laugh was like Christmas. It’s amazing, but only comes once a year, and after it’s gone all you do is wait for it to come around again. It turns out that Gaara’s laugh is more like summer rain in Konoha, frequent, but it always catches Lee by surprise. And every time it does, all he can do is bask in it."[Rare moments of our stiff Kazekage letting his guard down and having a laugh, but only when he's around Lee. It turns out he's got quite the sense of humor.]
Relationships: Gaara/Rock Lee
Comments: 31
Kudos: 203





	Laughter Lines

**Author's Note:**

> I love writing Gaara's sense of humor because I think it's totally underappreciated. Here's a bunch of him being weird, making Lee laugh, and some disgustingly sweet fluff as we go through it, because y'all know me and GaaLee fluff. It doesn't stop. 
> 
> also, GIGANTIC thanks to LilacNoctua, ([lilac-writes on tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/lilac-writes)) for giving me this idea as we discussed what a gremlin Gaara is.

For the longest time, Lee assumed Gaara’s laugh was like Christmas. It’s amazing, but only comes once a year, and after it’s gone all you do is wait for it to come around again. It turns out that Gaara’s laugh is more like summer rain in Konoha, frequent, but it always catches Lee by surprise. And every time it does, all he can do is bask in it. 

The first time he hears it, they’re talking at Naruto’s wedding, back when Gaara’s very presence made Lee’s fucking palms sweat. 

Lee is focused on Gaara, how he’s dressed to the nines (like he is on any other day.) His hair is messy from the wind; Gaara often mentions that no matter what he does with it it always sticks up. And Gaara is talking about something offhandedly sociopolitical, intelligent and calm as per usual, the kind of rambling he’s only just started to do with Lee because nowadays  _ they actually have time to talk,  _ but Lee can’t focus because Gaara is making his heart swoop in roller coasters. 

“...but truly, it’s an impossible situation on either end,” continues Gaara. Lee realizes he’s been so busy staring at the way Gaara is holding a wine glass, the stem resting  _ just-so _ in his slim fingers, that he hasn’t even been listening at all.

“It is,” Lee says, hoping to whatever God there is that Gaara hasn’t caught his attention slipping. It’s for good reason, isn’t it? “Is that… wine?”

It’s a deep red, and Gaara sips it easily, which is strange. Lee doesn’t know Gaara to be a fan of alcohol, and has been privy to many post-war dinners where Gaara will turn down more sake because it makes his face scrunch up. He hates the taste. 

Gaara  _ laughs,  _ and Lee is impeccably confused, staring at his face and feeling his chest tighten as Gaara holds his glass out to him, as if inviting him to take a sip. “Try for yourself.”

Gaara’s laugh is raspy like his voice, soft and gentle all the same, just as fleeting as the grin that accompanies it. Lee wants to hear it again, he thinks, as he takes a sip of Gaara’s wine. Expecting something sour and dry, Lee is pleasantly surprised with tangy and sweet. 

“Cranberry juice?”

“ _ Shh _ . I’m keeping up appearances.”

~~~~

Gaara laughs again when a year after that their faces are so close together, Lee’s eyelashes could brush his skin if he leaned down just a little bit more. 

The two of them had simply tripped over each other in Gaara’s office. Lee moves far too fast for his own good, and Gaara moves with no regard for anyone else. And upon a scuffle of Gaara leaving and Lee entering, they find themselves bumping straight into each other. 

Except, when Gaara bumps into Lee’s chest, instead of moving to the side, he stays there and looks up at him. And he  _ laughs,  _ because Lee’s cheeks are redder than his hair, and his lips are shaking while he stutters to come up with some sort of overly polite excuse (Gaara can already hear Lee’s dreaded pet name for him before he even says it.) Often, Gaara finds himself so comfortable with Lee that he might even mistake it for confidence. 

“My apologies, Gaara-kun,” stammers Lee, frozen in place. His hands are awkwardly akimbo on either side of Gaara, hovering hesitantly so as not to touch him. As if he hasn’t touched Gaara before, in a kind of way that would hardly be considered politically correct. “Is something funny?” He asks then, because Gaara is still smiling. 

Suddenly, Gaara’s expression shifts to one of deadpan, and he answers, “No. I’m thinking about the stock market.”

For a moment, it’s silent enough that Lee can hear the wind outside of the closed window of Gaara’s office, and then it hits him like a hard kick over the head. Gaara’s  _ joking. _

Lee lets out a tiny snort that turns into a giddy laugh, his once-frozen hands beginning to relax at Gaara’s sides. “You most certainly are not!” 

“You’re right,” Gaara says, offering Lee another rare smile, one with teeth. He still hasn’t moved an inch away from Lee, looking up at him expectantly like he’s waiting for something. Instead of being crossed over his chest, his arms are behind him, hands clasped politely. 

In the back of his mind, Lee admittedly thinks he knows what Gaara is waiting for. It’s just that he’s terrified to do it in the event that he gets it wrong. With Gaara, that is very easy to do. He tends to walk into a room and stare at somebody until they read his mind ( _ I was thinking about making a cup of tea. Wasn’t it obvious?) _

Gaara interrupts his inner monologue. “Are you ever going to kiss me, or shall I stand here and embarrass myself some more?”

“You are not--!” Lee blabbers something incoherent again; for someone so well spoken you’d think he wouldn’t sound like a broken record, but Gaara affects him much differently than any other high-pressure social situation. Because it’s not just any other situation. It’s  _ Gaara. _ And Lee doesn’t think he deserves anything less than perfect. 

“You are not embarrassing yourself,” Lee says, adding a laugh of his own into the mix. His hand comes up to cup Gaara’s cheek.

“Are you embarrassed? Your hand is sweaty--”

Lee cuts him off by kissing him suddenly, with the fond thought that Gaara won’t shut up otherwise. 

Gaara is used to getting what he wants through fear and intimidation, not because someone wants to give it to him. With Lee, it’s the latter. It’s always the latter. 

“One more,” Gaara says tenderly, when Lee pulls away. This time, he winds his arms around Lee’s neck, pushing up on the tips of his toes by just an inch or two to kiss him like he’s always wanted to. 

~~~~

Even three years later, Gaara’s laugh is still music to Lee’s ears because now he’s learned it’s not as elusive as he thinks. In fact, when they’re together, Gaara will take a break from being a one-word politician. When Gaara comes home to Lee after work, he’s not Gaara-sama, he’s  _ Gaara-kun.  _ Lee’s natural warmth and openness makes home somewhere safe to laugh.

This evening, Gaara has been particularly silly discussing the council meeting he had today. Truthfully, they still despise him. “They’re not happy with me, I think,” he says to Lee, who’s making dinner in the kitchen. 

“Oh? Would you say that is because you made fun of them in a meeting, or for good reason?” Lee’s voice, heavy with mirth, tugs a laugh from Gaara’s belly. 

Gaara pushes himself up to sit on the counter. Lee assumes it’s because he’s tired from work, but Gaara just wants to get a better look at Lee. He’s charming when he cooks, face scrunched up in concentration, his hair pulled back in a headband ( _ it’s only sanitary that way!) _ and even an  _ apron.  _

Gaara’s lips form a wry smile. “I only made fun of them a little bit. Indirectly.”

“I believe that is still considered making fun.”

“If they want to oppose our plans to get married, that’s fine,” Gaara says innocently, “then I’ll just oppose everything they put on the table until I get what I want.”

Behind closed doors, Gaara is a grown-up version of an intensely spoiled child, Lee has decided. It makes sense- someone who comes across that calm and collected has to snap sometime. Besides not saying anything at all, Gaara is also a master of  _ hmph _ and  _ whatever  _ and  _ I don’t want that, I want this, and here’s why.  _

“Don’t make a fuss,” Lee shakes his head. 

“I didn’t choose to make a fuss. They incited the fuss.” Gaara’s legs swing from the counter, his bare heel making a  _ thump  _ against the cupboards every so often. He’d slept last night, and his unwilting energy proves it. Gaara understands a lot of Lee’s enthusiasm for life when he actually gets some sleep.

“Tell me the voice you used again,” Lee says, his shoulders already beginning to shake with a chuckle. “What did you say?”

“I-” Gaara snorts, shaking his head. “I had a lot of coffee this morning. It was a caffeinated lapse of judgement.”

“Come on!”

“I said,” Gaara says, and clears his throat. Instantly, his voice is an octave higher, and he sits up straight, feigning drama. “ _ I have spent my entire life searching for the meaning of love. However, even now that I have found it, my own village continues to suffocate my body and spirit-- _ ” he can’t finish because he’s burying his head in his hands, shoulders overcome with silent laughter.

Lee is wiping tears from his eyes and he’s not sure if it’s from the spices in the curry he’s making or if it’s because he’s laughing too hard. “You can’t make a theatrical production out of a political meeting--”

“Why not? I’m the Ka--”

“Don’t say you’re the Kazekage--”

“I  _ am! _ ” Gaara leans over to take one of the vegetables Lee has sitting on a cutting board, and then another, popping them both into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully. “What do I have to lose, anyway? They’re still worried I’ll kill them if they don’t say yes, I bet.”

“They are not.”

“Big spooky Jinchuuriki,” Gaara drawls, adding a wave of his fingers for emphasis. He shakes his head, coming down from the counter, his bare feet hitting the ground with a light  _ slap. _

“You are spooky, certainly, but not very big.” Lee stands up straight after stooping over the curry. Gaara’s head comes up to the base of his neck, just about. “Perhaps if you actually ate more than three bites of a meal per day, you would grow,” he teases. 

“No, it’s just the premature birth,” Gaara says offhandedly.

Concern flickers over Lee’s face momentarily until he looks back over at Gaara. He’s snickering at his own joke.  _ Who jokes about that? _

When Gaara comes around his side to hook onto his arm, Lee can feel him still laughing. A gremlin, undeniably so. “What are you making, anyway? It smells good. Maybe I’ll eat four bites.”

“Four bites! And then an extra fifth, for y--”

“No fifth bite for youth.”

~

Within five years, Lee comfortably settles into his role of hearing every possible laugh Gaara has. He giggles when he’s drunk and hanging onto Lee’s arm. He belly laughs when they’re both laying on the couch together and Lee says anything particularly outlandish. When he’s done something immature (which is a lot, contrary to popular belief) he’ll snicker at a thought in his head only he can hear- except for Lee. Gaara tells Lee practically everything (including every dry joke in his arsenal. He doesn’t know that only about 60 percent of them are funny.)

And every time Gaara opens himself up to Lee for these rare, split-second moments where they laugh until their sides hurt, Lee’s heart gets even bigger (and according to Gaara, that might not even be possible.)

Like right now, when they find themselves splayed out on Lee’s bed in his Konoha apartment. The moon is shining bright through Lee’s window after they’d forgotten to close the blinds, illuminating the bare wood floors and the green bed sheets he has. It’s three in the morning, a favorite time for them. Lee wakes up early, and Gaara never sleeps. 

Both of them are laying on their backs. Gaara’s hand is aimlessly tracing over Lee’s, his smooth fingers running over rough scar tissue. Lee’s hands are unlike anyone’s he’s ever seen. His fingers are crooked from being broken and splinted, while his knuckles are jagged with scars and bumps. Lee is always apologizing for them, and Gaara wonders why,  _ when they’re the safest touch he’s ever felt? _

“You can go back to sleep, you know. You don’t have to stay up with me,” Gaara says.

“Who will keep you company?” Lee hums, a sleepy smile on his face. Gaara always likes his voice when he’s just woken up. It’s deeper, raspier, like Lee himself has slowed down. 

“Only if you want to,” Gaara murmurs.

“I always want to,” Lee grins, and turns onto his side to face Gaara. He’s visibly tired, has had a long couple of days, and the circles around his eyes only look darker in the evenings. “Remember the first time you spent the night here?” He asks.

Gaara closes his eyes, “I couldn’t forget.”

“I was so excited. I made my bed three times. It didn’t seem good enough.”

“I was in a bad mood. Kankuro said my lips were chapped and that you wouldn’t kiss me.”

Lee laughs, “Your lips are always chapped.”

Gaara lifts a hand to his lips, which are in fact, dry. “Really? Does it bother you?”

“No,” Lee chuckles, “I will kiss you regardless.” Without preamble, Lee leans over to peck Gaara’s lips. “See?”

“One more,” Gaara says sleepily, turning slightly, reaching a bony hand out for Lee. 

This is a line Gaara uses often and Lee doesn’t even think he realizes that he says it. “As many as you like,” Lee answers, bridging the gap between them by scooting closer. He leans up on his elbows while Gaara is still on his back, and kisses him again.

Gaara’s hand instinctively moves to Lee’s hair, expecting something deeper, but instead Lee pulls back to kiss his cheek. Then his jaw, then his neck, then back up to his cheek. Quick kisses like the ones Temari gives baby Shikadai on his cheeks, the kind that make him giggle so loud. Gaara is thankful it’s dark, so that otherwise, Lee can’t see the way his cheeks are burning red. 

“Cut it out--” Gaara cuts himself off with a laugh, the loudness of it filling the nighttime silence of their bedroom, piercing the quiet they’d created with just whispers. 

“Or what?” Lee asks playfully, with another kiss to Gaara’s forehead, then his cheek, then his nose, all while Gaara tries to dodge, a bashful grin on his face as he turns his head to either side. “Huh?”

Gaara is laughing louder now, teeth on show in a wide grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I don’t know, I don’t know--” he wraps his arms around Lee, pulling him impossibly close, feeling Lee press  _ one more kiss  _ into the dip of Gaara’s shoulder where Lee’s head fits in. 

Lee is practically on top of Gaara, as they’re chest to chest with the way Gaara has pulled him down. Gaara has said before that he likes Lee’s weight on top of him, but that’s because Lee doesn’t put all of it onto him. “Gaara-kun, have I ever told you what a handsome laugh you have?”

“Me?”

“No, the other Gaara-kun.”

This only elicits another laugh from Gaara, more wheezy with Lee’s weight on top of him. Gaara has only ever known Lee to be sarcastic in his presence, and even then it’s a rarity. Lee is pristinely polite, even to Gaara. 

“Go back to sleep, you’re insufferable,” says Gaara, as he closes his eyes, smile still on his lips, pressing his nose to the top of Lee’s hair. It’s soft and smooth, unlike the wad of humidity-induced curls Gaara has on his head. 

“I haven’t finished spending time with you yet. I feel like if I sleep now, I will miss out!”

“Miss out on what, possibly? Me laying in your bed in my underwear?”

“Precisely!”

Gaara hums in response, tightening his arms around Lee. “If you don’t stop being so charming, I’ll be laying in your bed  _ without  _ it.”

**Author's Note:**

> HDGKHDHDJ i don't even know where this came from but here it is. Thank you for reading! I've been taking requests and headcanons in my asks on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shadowstrangle) if you want to drop by there and say hey! 
> 
> Anyways, for all my American friends, happy election eve. Praying that Joe Biden gives me kudos on this


End file.
